HOT ROD, was basically aimed at scaring the shit out of young
kids and frightening them into being better drivers when they finally got old
enough to drive.
I can barely remember the plot -- something about a messed up, rebellious young
hotrodder who has little use for traffic rules and the like. He gets busted and
sent to driving school. And then a really bad wreck wipes a large portion of his
friends.
It's the description of the wreck -- a violent buffet of blood and guts and
shattered glass and bone and twisted metal and bodies and, most memorably, part
of someone's body hanging in mid-air by a shred of skin "like a sack of laundry"
-- that scared the hell out of me at the time. I'd never read anything that
graphic and upsetting before. And rarely since.
geez, I remember reading that too when I was a kid. the driver got impaled by the steering column. I didn't remember the title of the book however. thanks for the cold splash of water
John Lau
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
John Wooden
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Burton Smith <kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com>
To: rara-avis-l <rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Fri, Jul 16, 2010 9:03 am
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Automotive noir
Harry wrote:
> Inspired to post by all of the reaction to the original "Where have you gone
Rara-Avis?" query, I ask the following question in the hopes of generating a new
thread.
> So, here it comes straight out of left field... can anyone recommend any
hard-boiled and/or noir that relates to or is set in the automotive world?
Perhaps dealing with
> the automotive industry, past or present? Or, that revolves around a
particular make, model or manufacturer (again past or present)? That involves a
serious car guy?
Ah, cars....
As a kid, I was a huge car nut. Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Corgis, Dinky Toys, model
kits, Hot Rod magazine and the hot rod novels of William Campbell Gault (which I
devoured years before I ever discovered he'd written mysteries). But anyone
familiar with Gault's early Brock Callahan P.I. books will surely recognize some
of the themes and locales -- and even character types and asides -- that pop up
in the slew of automotive-themed books he wrote for teenagers.
And one other adolescent novel about kids and cars that pretty much seared my
brain: HOT ROD by Henry Gregor Felsen, a pulp writer someone else mentioned. His
best-known book, HOT ROD, was basically aimed at scaring the shit out of young
kids and frightening them into being better drivers when they finally got old
enough to drive.
I can barely remember the plot -- something about a messed up, rebellious young
hotrodder who has little use for traffic rules and the like. He gets busted and
sent to driving school. And then a really bad wreck wipes a large portion of his
friends.
It's the description of the wreck -- a violent buffet of blood and guts and
shattered glass and bone and twisted metal and bodies and, most memorably, part
of someone's body hanging in mid-air by a shred of skin "like a sack of laundry"
-- that scared the hell out of me at the time. I'd never read anything that
graphic and upsetting before. And rarely since.
Noir? I'm not sure. It certainly took on a moralizing tone, but in it's
unflinching description of human and automotive wreckage, there was a definite
hard-boiled tone. No wonder it was supposedly pulled off the shelves of many
school libraries.
The only other book that really comes to mind is Arthur Hailey's WHEELS, a big
honkin' (and best-selling) expose of the automotive industry that,
unfortunately, is more soap opera than hard-boiled in tone. But the ins and outs
(and thieving and nastiness) of making cars are pretty well covered. Put a
darker spin on it, and it would make a nice, nasty noir.
Granted, now that all the car companies are all such good upstanding corporate
citizens, who would believe it?
And for a cock-eyed, sideways glance at making cars in Detroit, Rob Kantner's
Ben Perkins' frequent forays into the industry are worth checking out. A few of
Elmore Leonard's Detroit-based books, most notably 52 PICK-UP (I think), also
offer occasional nice peeks into one segment or another of the industry.
Kevin Burton Smith
Editor/Founder
The Thrilling Detective Web Site
"Wasting your time on the web since 1998."
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